Sons Of The Exiled
by PharaohsThrone
Summary: After narrowly escaping death, Yugi finds his parents missing and his house trashed. In order to find out what happened to them, he teams up with Yami and a few other familiar faces, only to find himself at the mercy of Dartz. Only Yami can manage to save him, and it's among all this chaos that the two realise that their feelings for each other aren't quite unrequited.
1. Chapter 1 - Distress Call

In this story, the YGO characters have been dumped in the world of 'The Mortal Instruments'. It takes place around the same time that the City of Bones book is set, with the only events carried over being the history with Valentine's circle and the uprising (for the purpose of this story though, Dartz is playing the role of Valentine) If you haven't got much knowledge of The Mortal Instruments, **don't be afraid to ask questions**, as there would be a few things that would be hard to understand if you haven't read the books. I'm happy to explain anything and everything, just not within the story. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Distress Call**

Yami sat at the piano as he let his fingers slide elegantly over the keys, his eyes closed as he played, the all too familiar song flowing out of him. His mother had taught him this song when he was younger, and had been playing piano since he was seven years old. Something about being a Shadowhunter meant that while growing up he learned many different skills from musical to lingual and most especially-killing demons. His parents had once run the very institute he was sitting in now, but their joyful voices no longer filled the halls. They were killed a year ago by a greater demon, one known as Agramon. Greater demons were much more powerful and dangerous than your average one, and this particular demon was quite difficult to kill because of its specialty: fear. Yami's parents had literally been scared to death when they came upon this demon. How or why they encountered it nobody knows, but they weren't around to tell the tale. When someone stumbles upon Agramon it can get into their mind and find their deepest fear, and the demon itself would turn into that fear until its victim had ben tortured so much that they die.

Yami's hands slipped on the keys of the piano as he had become distracted, and he sighed as he tried to start again. Little did he know it was actually Dartz who had demanded such a fate for his parents, for the mad man had been after the previous members of his Circle, way back before the uprising. Yami knew that his parents had been part of the Circle, but they had given themselves up to the Clave after the uprising, and so they did not receive as much of a scolding as Dartz' closer followers did. Instead, they were exiled from Idris and had to run the Brooklyn institute, no longer a part of any important Clave business, but still part of the Shadowhunter world. They had raised their son there, with their friends Jenny and Steven, who now ran the institute, after Yami's parents were killed. Jen and Steve had two sons who also grew up with Yami, though they bickered quite a lot, the other could tell they still had a brotherly love hidden deep down somewhere. Their names were Duke and Tristan.

They weren't the only Shadowhunters in the area, either. There were a few other families from the Circle who had been exiled from Idris, and so they basically all lived around New York now, so that they were all close to each other, should they need to band together. They were seen differently to the Clave from every other Shadowhunter, even if they had redeemed their trust, they were still once a part of Dartz' Circle. Another family who lived nearby were the Mutou's, they were quite good friends with Jenny and Steven, and so Yami had recently become friends with their son, Yugi. Although there would be decent spans of time where they wouldn't see each other, their friendship was still a strong one.

Yami was interrupted from his playing when Duke made his presence known by knocking on the door of the music room, that was sitting wide open. Yami raised his eyebrows as he stopped playing, seeing the expression on his friend's face-one that meant something was wrong. He dropped his hands from the keys, waiting to hear that they had to go and sort something out. He was hoping it wasn't another cock up in Downworld; he'd had enough of those for one week.

"We have a situation," Duke stated, "You may want to come out here." Yami silently stood up, and followed Duke as he walked down to the library where he soon found Tristan, Jenny and Steve gathered around the fire place. Before he could ask what was going on, Steve explained how they had just received a distress call from their friends the Mutou's.

"What's the problem? Were they attacked?" Yami asked, now on alert as he looked over Steve's shoulder at the message.

"I'm not sure," the man explained, "It doesn't say, it must have been quite rushed." He turned to the three teens. "I want you three to go to the house and see what the problem is, if it's anything serious contact me right away and I'll send a message to the Clave." Yami, Duke and Tristan nodded and they all swiftly left the library, heading for the weapons room.

"What do you think happened?" Tristan asked as they pushed the door open to the well equipped room.

"The hell if I know," Duke replied, walking in and going straight to the far wall where they kept their seraph blades. The weapons room looked exactly the way something called 'the weapons room' sounded like it would look. The walls were lined with every kind of sword, dagger, pike, feather staff, bayonet, mace, hook and bow. The rest of the room was filled with Seraph blades, each of them glowing a dull silver colour, as if waiting to be used. You could find every possible way to kill a demon or any Downworlder in this room, though they hoped that they wouldn't need to use any of these weapons on Downworlders. Sure, the vampires, warlocks, werewolves and fairies were demon-human hybrids, but they were not as much of a danger to the world as demons were. Besides, the accords forbade the Shadowhunters to slay a Downworlder unless they were breaking the law of the covenant.

The three boys quickly equipped themselves with enough seraph blades and various other weapons, and soon they were leaving the institute, making their way to the Mutou's. As they headed towards the familiar house, Yami was wishing it _had_ just been a small problem in Downworld.

...

"Hurry _up, _Duke," Yami hissed as his friend drew an open rune on the wooden door with his stele. The house seemed eerily quiet, even from the outside. Duke voiced his annoyance at Yami's impatience, when Tristan butted in.

"I could have drawn 5 runes by now," he said, prodding his brother's back with his own stele.

"Yeah but I can also kill twice as many demons as you, dingus," Duke retorted, as he finished the rune. It burned into the door, before bursting open, revealing the entryway of the house. The three men gasped when their eyes caught sight of the hall before them; even from the front steps they could tell this was not good. The rug that lay on the wooden floor was in shreds, and the many photo frames that once lined the ivory coloured walls were on the ground, shattered. Yami swallowed through a tight throat as he walked in first, carefully pulling out a seraph blade as he did so, his eyes bright and alert. His weapon quickly burned up like white fire, and the two brothers followed suit as they silently walked into the house. Tristan pushed the door closed behind him, and glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey guys," he spoke quietly, gaining Yami and Duke's attention. The two men turned around, to see the deep slashes in the back of the door, along with a seraph blade that was sticking out from the wood. There had obviously been some sort of fight very recently, between Nephilim and Demon. Yami then saw the insignia on the hilt of the blade.

"That's Yugi's," he murmured, staring at the seraph blade. Tristan pulled the blade out of the door with a grunt, before adding it to his collection. Yami then looked down at the ground, and saw that the torn rug was covered in blood and Demon ichor.

"Demons..." he murmured in disgust, before turning back to look at the door. "That would have been a Shax," he pointed out, noting the slashes in the door, most likely caused by the long talons that particular demon held.

Duke spoke up then, pushing the group forwards, "Then we better hurry, there may be more demons in this house and we don't even know if anyone is here yet," he said, pushing past Yami to go explore the house. Tristan quickly followed his brother, leaving Yami standing in the entryway. He sighed and shook his head, before walking out towards the main part of the house. It opened up in two directions; one through the living area and kitchen, and the other down a narrow hallway that most likely lead to the bedrooms. Since Duke and Tristan had gone down the hallway, Yami decided to scope out the living area.

As he walked through the house, there was a sinking feeling in his gut, it seemed the further into the house he went the more damage there was. His chest tightened in fear for his friend. Things were strewn everywhere, destroyed and torn up. The coffee table was overturned and sitting just beside the entrance to the kitchen, probably after being thrown. There was more blood on the floor, too. This wasn't good. Yami then made his way through the kitchen, stepping over the many smashed plates and various other things, and he passed the kitchen window that looked out over the backyard. The yard had a gate situated right at the back, probably to escape in situations such as this, and the gate was wide open. _Perhaps they managed to get away from whoever attacked them, _Yami thought as he stared out the window. He was then brought to the attention of a sickening noise from the next room. He gripped his seraph blade tight in his hand as he carefully walked into the dining room, where the table was overturned, hiding the source of the noise, it sounded like slicing flesh.

Yami's eyes went wide when he noticed something protruding out from behind the table: an arm. He darted forwards, his eyes wide with fear and determination, there was no doubt who the person was, for there was a distinctive band wrapped around their wrist. _Yugi._ Yami threw the table aside to see a Shax demon on top of his friend, slashing the flesh on his chest with its sharp talons, leaving deep crimson lacerations behind. Yami lunged forwards and kicked the monstrosity off of Yugi, before raising his seraph blade in his hand, ready to strike as he stood over the boy in a protective stance. The Shax had shrieked when Yami kicked it away, and it pulled itself back up, a snarl bubbling from its throat as it turned back to Yami.

He was distracted however when he heard Yugi make a sort of choking noise below him, and Yami looked down and stared. He hadn't gained a very good look at the boy yet, but now he could see the pain on his face very clearly, as the deep slashes in his chest welled with blood. Yami could feel his heart thumping in his chest already, and he was suddenly alerted to the presence of another demon when he heard a whistling noise from behind him. Before he had the time to react however, something slammed into the back of his head with enough force to knock him over. With a loud cry, Yami hit the ground, his legs now on top of Yugi's as he had been standing over the boy. It took a second for Yami's head to stop spinning, though now it was throbbing painfully from the unexpected attack from behind. He could hear the Ravenor make it's own pathetic excuse for a laugh as it stood on top of him, before he let out an aggravated noise and ripped the demon off of the back of his head, throwing it across the room. It hit the far wall and fell to the ground with a smack, but Yami knew that it would be back on its feet soon. Ravenors would never give up that easy. With his head now pounding in pain, Yami moved to get up, but the Shax wasn't keen on that idea. Soon the monstrosity was on top of him, and it tore at his chest with its talons. Yami let out a pained cry before he drove his seraph blade deep into the Shax's chest, and twisting it for good measure. The demon made a gurgling noise as it started convulsing on top of him, and with one last screech, it folded in on itself and disappeared to whatever dimension it came from.

Yami sat up with a grunt, almost forgetting there was still the Ravenor to deal with. He only just had enough time to look down and see blood staining his shirt from the torn flesh beneath, before he saw the Ravenor heading straight for Yugi, licking its lips deviously as it grinned, showing it's hundreds of sharp teeth. Yami quickly lunged at the beast, knocking it away from the boy, and after receiving a painful bite on the arm, Yami managed to swing his blade in the right direction to slice at the Ravenor until it too, screeched and spasmed until it disappeared. With a heavy sigh, Yami leaned back against the wall, dropping his blade to the ground that was now covered in demon blood and ichor. His head felt heavier than a boulder, and his chest was burning with pain, but he had to keep moving. Yami could only just make out the sound of his friends calling out in another part of the house; they must have found some demons also.

Yami then shook his head and crawled over to the boy, who was barely conscious, and losing blood fast. He had several deep slashes in his chest, basically rendering his shirt useless as it was torn to shreds, and there was also an angry deep cut down the side of his face. His blond bangs were stuck to his forehead with sweat and blood, and his eyes were fighting to stay open, though they were small slits as it was. Yami could feel his own chest burning from the slashes he had received, and his arm ached and stung from the Ravenor sinking its teeth into him, but his primary concern was Yugi.

"Shit, those talons are sharp," Yami muttered, as he gently put his hand over one of the cuts in Yugi's chest that matched his own.

Yugi was clearly still slightly conscious, as he winced in pain when Yami touched his wound. Yami quickly drew his hand back as the boy just managed to look up him, his eyes dazed and confused. The many runes on the boy's chest had been ruined by the slashed flesh, which meant that the Shax had decreased Yugi's strength and agility by the looks of the marks there. Yami placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, partly to keep himself steady and partly to try and get Yugi's attention.

"Yugi, can you hear me?" he asked, looking down at the boy, his eyes filled with worry.

Yugi made another choking noise, and Yami took this as a bad sign. Not that the slashes in his chest weren't anything to go by. Yami clumsily pulled out his stele as he felt the affect of the Ravenor's attack sinking into his head even more. With much effort, he drew a very sloppy iratze on Yugi's chest, beside the wounds.

Amidst hearing the choking noises Yugi was making, Yami realised it was his attempt at trying to breathe. He needed to move fast. Yami was then surprised when Yugi was able to force out one word. "Y...Yami..." he choked weakly, staring up at the man drawing on his chest with a stele. Yugi wasn't very aware of what was going on, but the man above him looked incredibly pale. Before he was able to say anything more though, he blacked out.

"Yugi?" Yami dropped the stele in alarm, staring down at the boy, who's eyes had just closed. "Yugi!" he shook the boy's shoulders, but there was no response, his body had gone completely limp. _I have to get him back to the institute, _Yami thought, before fumbling for his stele so that he could put it back in his pocket. With his head spinning and chest aching, Yami clumsily lifted the boy into his arms, and let out a grunt of pain when the weight was put against him, where his own blood was soaking his torn shirt from the slashes in his chest. He could still faintly hear his comrades down the hall, along with smashing noises and the slithering of another Ravenor or two. No, Yami had to get Yugi to the institute _now. _So, choosing to leave his friends to deal with the demons, Yami quickly moved out of the house and stumbled down the street back to the institute, Yugi's limp body tight in his arms.


	2. Chapter 2 - Recovery

**Chapter 2: Recovery**

Yami burst through the doors of the institute, which would have alerted Jenny and Steve to his return, no matter how loud his entrance was. They always knew when someone entered the building, even if they were completely silent. Soon Yami was clumsily making his way to the infirmary, knowing that his adoptive parents would soon be there as well. He stumbled through the door, just as he heard rushed footsteps behind him.

"Yami!" Jenny gasped, seeing the teen's shirt torn, "What happened to you?" she rushed over to him, just as he placed Yugi down on one of the beds. His head felt like it was about to explode, and he could barely keep both his feet on the ground anymore. He was vaguely aware of Steve moving to Yugi's side, assessing the boy's wounds.

Yami turned his head, and Jenny caught side of his most painful wound, gasping in the process. "Yami, have you seen the back of your head?" she shrieked, the motherly tone clear in her voice.

Yami was fighting to keep his eyes open as he focused on not blacking out. "Well, I can certainly feel it," he grunted, leaning on the bed he had just placed Yugi on. He was slightly aware that he was putting bloody hands on white sheets, but Yugi's wounds would stain the bed anyway. Yami only barely heard Jenny's concerned words as she asked him more questions about his injuries, how he found Yugi and where his friends were. Her words sounded blurred and distant, and he was focusing on trying to stop his legs from trembling beneath him. Yami hung his head low, blinking rapidly as Jenny's words started to swirl around him, his knees growing weaker by the second. He knew that the demon poison was causing his weakness, but Yugi was in far worse a position than himself and needed attention immediately. If Yami were to show how weak he truly was after his fight with the demon, it would distract Jenny and Steve from saving Yugi, for all he knew the boy could have already been on the way to dying when the man found him.

Yami gripped the sheets of the boy's bed as he tried to stay standing. "Just...help Yugi," he managed to choke out. He felt the floor start to slant below him, as his heard his heartbeat in his ears, and he was no longer aware of where his legs were. Before he could comprehend why the floor was getting closer, everything went black as he collapsed beside Yugi's bed.

...

_The institute's halls were darkening as the sun began to set, casting a yellow-orange glow through the windows. Yami sat on the stool of the piano, staring out the window that overlooked the busy road below of which the institute faced. His eyebrows were creased in worry as he sat silently, carefully watching for any sign of his parents. Greg and Paige Sennen had received a message saying that a Shadowhunter body had been found in one of the old warehouses that sat on the East river, and gone to investigate. _

_That was five hours ago. _

_The young man had been sitting in that very spot for maybe the last hour or so, he wasn't quite sure. Only being seventeen, he wasn't allowed to participate in official Clave business, but he was sure that his parents hadn't sent a message to the Conclave as of yet, meaning that they went alone. The sky was growing dark very quickly, and heavy clouds rolled in, signaling that rain would be on the way. It seemed the gloomy weather was in tune to the young man's emotions, for he felt about as relaxed as a stretched spring, and he could see the clouds were about ready to burst from the amount of water they held. _

_His family wasn't the only one which lived in the Institute, he had two friends, Duke and Tristan, who lived here with their parents Jenny and Steven. The large building would have been much too lonely if it only had 3 occupants, and so the two families lived together in harmony, and the three boys would often entertain themselves while the adults went out on official Clave business. However, Jenny and Steven had been meeting with a Warlock when Yami's parents received the message, so they didn't even have their loyal friends with them. Yami wasn't quite sure where the other four occupants of the Institute were, he hadn't seen Jenny and Steve since they left that morning, and his two friends had been out all day hunting down Demons for fun. They had invited Yami to come along with them, but he hadn't been feeling up to it, and so he had been left in the large building by himself, just as he was now. He soon realised that this last statement was wrong, when he heard two pairs of footsteps approaching the music room, casually looking for any sign of life. _

_"Yami?" Duke's voice called out, echoing down the hallway. "Are you here?" The young man wasn't sure why he didn't bother answering, probably because he knew they would find him in a minute anyway. _

_"Come on bro, we don't want to look through every room in this place for ya," Tristan complained, as their footsteps grew louder, and finally stopped. Yami had his back facing the door as he sat on the piano stool, still staring out into the night. "There you are," Tristan said, walking in to greet his friend. Yami still couldn't be bothered to turn around as his friends walked in, of whom he'd known for as long as he could remember. The two brothers were his closest companions, though there were other Shadowhunter kids his age around the place, he didn't see them often. _

_Duke and Tristan were confused when Yami didn't answer them, and they became worried when they came around and saw the vacant look in their friend's eyes. "Are you okay buddy?" Tristan asked, watching Yami's eyes scan the lamp lit streets below._

_Duke then looked behind him to the door of the music room, before asking, "Where are Paige and Greg?" At the mention of his parents, Yami seemed to snap out of his trance, though he still didn't look away from the window as he spoke. _

_"I don't know," he murmured, his eyes distant and empty, "They haven't come home." _

Yami was suddenly jolted awake by the feeling of something brushing across his face. His head felt heavy and he was quite disoriented as he groaned from being thrown back to reality so suddenly. _Why was I being reminded of that at now of all times? _He thought with an internal sigh. He remembered that day as if it were last week, though he wished he didn't. Yami tried to push back those thoughts and replaced them with figuring out what had happened to cause him to be where he was now. He remembered carrying Yugi into the infirmary (just) but anything after that was all a blur. He groaned and lifted one of his arms up, realising that it was the curtain tickling his cheek which had woken him up, as a quiet breeze blew through the window above him. He rubbed his eyes, and he flinched when the sun shone right on his eyelids. With a groan of annoyance, Yami opened his eyes and moved back away from the rays of morning sunlight coming in through the window. He remembered he had received quite a painful injury from that Ravenor demon to the back of his head, so he assumed he must have blacked out at some point. He did feel a lot better than previously, and he realised that Steve must have rid his body of the demon poison. Yami then heard a sound on his left, and he turned his head to see Yugi stretching in his own bed, groaning whilst doing so. The boy then slowly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly with creased eyebrows.

"Yugi," he murmured, a small smile creeping onto his face, "You're alright."

The boy obviously had not known of Yami's presence, as he made a startled noise, before turning to look at him. "Yami," the boy said, widening his eyes in surprise. "You scared me." Before the man could apologise though, Yugi was already firing questions at him. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Yami opened his mouth to reply, but once again he was interrupted. This time though, it was by Duke and Tristan barging into the room. "Hey he's awake!" Tristan cheered, jumping on the end of Yami's bed. "Took your damn time." He then saw Yugi blinking at them, confused as Duke leaned against the bedpost.

"...Why am I at the institute?" The boy asked, looking around at the dozen or so beds filling the room.

Duke and Tristan looked at each other, before they both looked at Yami. "You didn't tell him?" Duke asked.

"I only just woke up," Yami said, crossing his arms defensively, before adding, "How long was I out?"

Duke looked down at his watch, "Almost 24 hours," he said, "It's Tuesday morning."

Yugi then interrupted them, sounding more worried than before as he asked what was going on and why he was at the institute. Duke and Tristan both went to reply at the same time, and the two sentences jumbled together made no sense at all. They glared at each other for a moment, and seemed to settle an argument without actually saying anything. Yami always wondered how they could do that.

"You were attacked yesterday," Duke stated as he turned back to Yugi, before Tristan cut in, wanting to add his own input.

"And Yami practically saved your life," he said, motioning to the man in front of him, still wearing clothes that were slashed and covered in his own blood. Yugi could see remnants of the thick crimson liquid covering the teen's chest and arm, though there appeared to be evidence of someone trying to clean him up. Yugi faintly remembered being in a wave of pain, barely conscious, when suddenly a tall figure shot out from nowhere like a knight in shining armor. Yugi chuckled to himself at his own thoughts. Yami was no knight in shining armor, but he was certainly attractive enough.

"Thank you," Yugi said, smiling over at the man.

"No problem," Yami said, returning the smile, "Just doing my job." This wasn't the first time that 'his job' caused him to end up in the infirmary. But that was what life was like as a Shadowhunter, you give everything your all without a second thought. Shadowhunters had a sworn duty to protect mankind from the invisible threat of demons and rogue Downworlers, and if anything ugly happens there's always the silent brothers to fix you up. Yami wondered if one of the brothers had been called in for him or Yugi, he wasn't quite sure where the line was in terms of what Steve could do to help heal them before he needed the extra help. Yami was glad that he had been unconscious the whole time though, because even to an eighteen year old the silent brothers were quite scary to come across with their hollow eyes and stitched mouths.

"Actually," Duke said, interrupting Yami's thoughts. "We were told you practically collapsed as soon as you brought Yugi back here," the boy in question raised his eyebrows at this as Duke continued to talk to Yami, "We never actually got to hear exactly what happened."

Yami sighed at his friend, as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "There isn't much to tell," he said, glancing at Yugi. "I found him in the dining room, and a Shax was having a field day on his chest," Yami explained, and Yugi put his hand up to this chest, that now was covered in many gruesome scars from the abuse. "So I pushed it off of him only to get a blow from behind by a Ravenor."

Tristan decided to butt in then, "Is that what got you in the back of the head?"

Yami nodded, "Oh yeah, hurt like a bitch, too." He chuckled, before continuing. "So I threw it across the room and that's when the Shax did this," he pointed to the scars covering his own chest from the demon, among many other feint scars from various runes. "Once I stabbed it, I went after the Ravenor and it bit me," he held up his arm that still had the scars from it's sharp teeth, and dried blood surrounding it. "But then I killed it, and brought Yugi back here."

"What a hero," a familiar voice laughed. They all turned around to see another Shadowhunter youth standing at the door, fresh runes covering the skin of his shoulders, showing through the thin white shirt he was wearing. He flicked his blond hair out of his eyes as he playfully smirked at the group. "So, what's this about Yugi's house getting attacked?"

...

"You've got to be kidding me," Joey scratched his head as he sat on the edge of Yugi's bed, having sat down while the others explained to him what had happened. He turned to his friend who was sitting in the bed, "I leave you for a few hours and this happens?" he said in a joking manner. Yugi was caught by surprise, looking at the man with wide eyes as it had come out harsher than Joey had intended. The blond laughed and nudged the boy's ribs, "I'm just kidding, Yug." Yugi relaxed and chuckled slightly, before stealing a glance over at Yami, who seemed to be quite happy to sit back while everyone filled Joey in. They knew the blond man had practically grown up with Yugi, and thus the two were great friends, but they didn't usually see Joey all that often. Yami was the only one who visited Yugi's house, and even then he had only seen the blond a few times.

"So what's our plan of action now?" Duke asked, "We have no idea why Yugi's house was attacked, or where his parents are."

"Geez, that must suck," Tristan commented, "Having your parents ditch on you." Duke instantly elbowed his brother in the ribs, indicating that that was not the best thing to say, and Tristan threw his hands up in defense.

"They had no choice!" Yugi suddenly jumped in. "They were attacked while I was at Joey's and it was when I arrived home that I was caught by surprise by the demons."

Yami untangled his legs from the sheets and swung them over the side of the bed, facing Yugi as he did so. "Do you know why anybody would be after your parents, Yugi?" he asked.

The boy shook his head, "I haven't got a clue. They don't have anything to do with anyone who isn't a Shadowhunter, and they don't even participate in any official Clave business..." he trailed off as he appeared to be lost in thought, and the group watched him intently. "Actually...there is one Downworlder that they seem to visit often..." he murmured, holding his chin as he looked to the side, trying to remember the name he had heard so many times.

"The Warlock!" He suddenly said, snapping his fingers, "Mahaad."


	3. Chapter 3 - Party Crashing

**Chapter 3: Party Crashing**

"Are you sure this is where the High Warlock of Brooklyn lives?" Joey asked as the group of five walked along the footpath, looking up at their surroundings. They had found out earlier that day that Mahaad intended on hosting a party that night, and after getting their hands on an invitation, they found the address. It had lead them to a largely industrial neighborhood, with factories and warehouses lining the streets. Although they were surrounded by large square warehouses though, a lot of them bore signs of human residence, having being converted into lofts and galleries. Yugi idly let his eyes wander around the neighborhood, spying flower boxes hanging off windows, full trash cans in the street, and then his ears caught the feint loud music playing in the distance.

"I'm gonna take a stab in the dark, and say he lives over there," Duke pointed in the direction of the music, and they spied a red brick warehouse just down the street, with many sleek black vehicles lining the curb.

They approached the building and Yami walked around the motorcycles, shaking his head in disapproval, "Tch, vampires." He flicked the shiny surface of one of the bikes, before Tristan told him to hurry up and not worry about the mode of transportation those Downworlders used. Yami lingered for a moment, before moving to catch up with the group, "I like the bikes, it's just the night children I'm not a huge fan of," he commented. The group made their way up the steps and to the door, with Yugi lagging behind, feeling a little unsure of the whole thing.

Yami made his way up the steps as he caught up to the group, and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder when he reached the boy. "Everything alright?" he murmured.

Yugi sighed, looking at the wooden door with uncertainty in his eyes, "I just don't know if Mahaad will have any clue what happened to my parents, but if he does, I don't know if I want to find out..." Yami could see the tense set of his shoulders, as he started numbly at the ground, apparently admiring his shoes. He knew that feeling all too well, and his dream from that morning was brought to the front of his mind. Yami shook his head, before turning back to the boy. "Would you want to find out?" Yugi asked him.

Yami dropped his hand from the boy's shoulder, looking up at the door before them. "I had the same problem not too long ago." He then turned back to him, "But no matter how grim it might seem, the truth is better than ignorance. Always." He quickly gave Yugi's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before moving to stand behind the rest of the group. Yugi knew that Yami's parents were no longer around, but he didn't know any of the details. They had only been friends for a bit under a year, and the only thing Yugi had picked up was that in that time Yami had gradually become less withdrawn than he had been when they met. Why that was, he didn't know.

It seemed that the three men in front had already tried ringing the doorbell, though they doubted anyone would be able to hear it considering the noise coming from inside the building. Yugi sighed, before walking up to stand beside Yami once more, just as the door swung open, revealing a tall and slender man. The group regarded him carefully, his long brown hair sat straight on his shoulders, and he had evenly tanned skin, suggesting he may have been part egyptian. The man was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt covered with dozens of buckles; whether they actually had a purpose or were just for show, Yugi wasn't sure, but the man in front of him looked quite flamboyant in a way he was sure his parents wouldn't approve of. His eyes were shadowed with charcoal glitter, and as the man lifted a ring laden hand to brush through his long hair, he eyed the group carefully.

"Children of the Nephilim?" he said raising his eyebrows, "I don't usually attract such company to my parties," he commented.

Yugi stepped forward, as the group parted for him to speak to the tall man, "Mahaad," he said, earning a nod in return. "We need to speak to you."

Yami looked past the slender man to see bright lights flashing in the room around many dancing bodies, some of which had wings sprouting from their backs or flowers cascading from their hair. The Fair Folk usually enjoyed such an atmosphere, and fairy drinks were passed around more often than anything a normal human would consume. It seemed that most of the occupants in this party were Warlocks and Fairies, though Yami did spy the owners of the motorcycles in there as well.

Mahaad stepped back slightly, eyeing them carefully, "I'm not in trouble with the Clave, am I?"

"No," Yami spoke up, shaking his head, "This has nothing to do with the Clave. We need your help with a personal matter."

Mahaad relaxed, before shrugging, "Very well, come in," he turned to lead them inside, "Just try not to murder any of my guests." Duke and Tristan chuckled quietly as they followed the tall Warlock inside, and when the man grabbed a drink from a nearby tray that a fairy girl was carrying through the room, Yugi noticed his eyes closely resembled that of a cat's. Mahaad lead them into another room so that the music was not so loud, and he made himself comfortable on the couch, sipping his drink as he looked up at the group. "So, what's on your devious little minds?" he asked.

"I believe you know my parents," Yugi said, grabbing the man's attention as he stood at the edge of the group. Mahaad raised an eyebrow. "The Mutou's, they seem to visit you fairly often."

Yami saw the realisation tick over in Mahaad's cat eyes, "Ah, yes. They've gotten me out of a few run ins with the Clave. Though I haven't seen them in a few weeks, how are they?"

The look in Yugi's eyes seemed to answer the man's question as the boy looked down to the side, "I don't know," he murmured.

Yami then stepped forwards, saving Yugi from needing to explain, "That's why we're here, we were hoping you would have a clue as to where they are. Yugi's house was attacked yesterday by demons, so obviously somebody is after them."

Mahaad's eyebrows disappeared under his hair, as his expression changed from that of a relaxed one to frightful and alert. "Oh my..." he murmured, and he placed his drink down, before standing up and swiftly walking over to a dusty bookshelf in the corner of the room.

Yugi watched the man with fearful uncertainty in his eyes, "Do you know what happened to them?" he asked.

Mahaad pulled out what looked to be an old photo album, before turning back to the group, "I'm afraid I may have an inkling," he said, bringing the large folder back over to the couch. He sat down as they all crowded around him, watching over his shoulder. He flicked through the album as he spoke, "Your parents gave me an old photo from when they were in school," he said to Yugi. He found the right page, and Yugi found himself staring at the browned photograph, instantly noticing the young faces of his parents, smiling in the middle of a large group of people.

Yami was caught most by surprise by the photo however, as he took a sharp intake of breath upon seeing his own youthful parents among the group. "That's-!"

"Dartz' Circle," Mahaad finished for him. "This photo was taken on the day they all graduated from school. Though most of the people in this particular photo were killed in the Uprising, the Circle had grown in number by that time, and so there are still about a dozen old members still alive today, including your parents, Yugi." The group watched over Mahaad's shoulder as he pointed out a slender but well built man, with sharp and entrancing features. "That's Dartz," he said. "Incredibly charming and easy to fall for, whether you swing that way or not. Most of the Circle were pulled in easily for him, almost like puppets."

"What does this have to do with why my parents being missing though?" Yugi asked, "Dartz is dead, everyone knows that he burned himself to ashes after the Uprising."

Mahaad quirked an eyebrow, "Are you sure about that?" The feeling of cold dread that ran through Yugi's body in that moment could not be explained in words, as he froze in place, amethyst eyes trained on the Warlock in front of him.

"You mean...?" Yugi asked, his sentence left unfinished. Mahaad nodded.

"He's still alive, and your parents knew that," Mahaad said, closing the photo album. "They heard that he was planning on reuniting the remaining members of the Circle, to continue his plan of taking over the Clave. Of course, they had put that behind them after the Uprising, but they originally came to me, asking for a back up in case he did find them."

"So Dartz came after them and they escaped?" Yugi asked hopefully. "What was the back up?"

Mahaad's eyes were glinting as a smug smile spread across his face, "A portal."

Tristan spoke up for the first time since they arrived, raising his eyebrows as he did so, "A portal? What do you mean?"

"I mean," Mahaad explained, "that I set up an unfinished portal out the back of the Mutou residence, that could be reached from the back gate." Yami suddenly remembered looking out into Yugi's backyard and seeing said gate wide open, as it all ticked over in his mind. "It was heavily glamoured so that no Shadowhunter or Downworlder would even be able to see it, unless they were looking for it. All they had to do was finish the last rune, and it would open up. So, based on what you've told me, I'd assume that Dartz found them and so they escaped through the portal."

Yami looked to the boy standing beside him, and noticed that Yugi had his fists clenched at his sides as he stared at Mahaad, a million different emotions in his eyes. "They had this brilliant escape plan this whole time, and they never told me?!" Yugi suddenly bursted, advancing on the man sitting on the couch with rage filled eyes.

Mahaad seemed unfazed by the boy's sudden outburst, as he waved a care-free hand at Yugi. "Well, I doubt they had much choice when Dartz knocked on their door."

"But they never even told me they were in the Circle!" Yugi raged, "I grew up learning about the Uprising, the blood shed, the problem it caused for the Accords, but I-I never imagined _they _were a part of it!" He looked distraught, as if the idea of being withheld such information was treason.

Yami then placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder, "Yugi, there were many people we know now who were in the Circle. My parents, Duke and Tristan's parents, but you have to understand that Dartz had convinced them all that what they were doing was right and beneficial to the Clave. None of them had any clue what Dartz really had planned. I'm sure your parents were just trying to protect you."

Yugi didn't seem to calm down however, "But I had no idea that any of this would even happen! Why didn't they tell me if they were in danger?!"

Mahaad shrugged, "Dunno," he said. "But if that's all you were after, I best be getting back to the festivities." He moved to stand up, but Duke grabbed the man's shoulder, pulling him back down.

"Hold on a second, we're not done here," the ebony haired man said.

Yugi was still in a fit of incredulous rage, as Yami tried to calm him down. "They never even bothered to tell me that a madman who is supposed to be dead is after them? Did they ever think about how that drags me into this?!"

Mahaad looked at the boy with bored eyes, "They must have been too nervous to tell you, I'm sure."

Yugi turned on the man, as Yami grabbed his shoulders, trying to get him to stop yelling. "I was almost killed because of my ignorance!" Yugi bellowed. Yami pulled him back and spun him around, holding Yugi's shoulders tight in his grip as he stared the boy down.

"Yugi, you need to calm down," he said carefully. "I understand this is difficult to grasp, but they probably had good reasoning for why they didn't tell you." Yugi's chest was heaving as he stared up at the man, who's eyes were begging him to listen to reason. "And don't forget: you're a Shadowhunter, it's pretty hard to kill you."

Yugi sighed, trying to slow his rapidly beating heart from all this new information he had just received. He turned his head to the side, muttering to himself, "If it weren't for you, I _would_ be dead."

Yami heard this of course, but countered it with, "That doesn't matter now, what does matter is finding your parents." His eyes bore into Yugi's as the boy calmed himself down, before nodding, and turning back to Mahaad.

Yugi took a deep breath, before speaking again, "Where did the portal lead?"

...

The music grew dull in their ears as the small group of shadowhunters walked out onto the street once more, noticing that the owners of the motorcycles were now gathered around their vehicles. As the group walked past, they earned glares from the night children, as they heard the various complaints they were making about the bikes. From what Yugi heard as he walked at the back of the group, it seemed that someone had poured holy water into the gas tanks, rendering them completely useless. As Yami walked beside him, the man muttered a comment.

"Serves them right," Yami snickered in amusement. He had previously had quite a few unpleasant run ins with the Vampires in New York, and thus wasn't fond of them at all. Yugi then noticed movement from behind them, and realised that one of the vampire kids must have heard Yami's comment, as he was alerted to a figure approaching them from behind.

Just as Yami moved to react, having noticed someone sneaking up behind them, a figure darted in front of him, so fast it was almost a blur. In a matter of seconds, Yugi had pulled out a seraph blade and swiftly stepped in front of the man, holding the weapon to the throat of the teen who had been about to pounce. The dark haired boy all but hissed at Yugi, rearing his needle like fangs.

Yugi kept his stare hard and his stance strong as he held the weapon to the vampire's throat, never showing any signs of wavering. "Do you _really_ want to pick a fight with a demon hunter?" he asked slowly, his glare hard enough to shatter glass. Behind the vampire boy, Yami could see the rest of the night children on high alert, more than willing to jump in should the member of their clan need it.

The vampire boy hissed again, "_He _destroyed our bikes," he spat, nodding his head towards Yami. The man in question raised his eyebrows.

"You think that just because I don't like you, I destroyed your bikes?" Yami asked incredulously. He folded his arms, "I don't have the time for such childish behaviour."

The vampire boy made a 'tch' sound as he tried to step around Yugi to the other teen, but the boy simply followed him with his angel blade. The vampire gave up his endeavor, and simply sneered over Yugi's shoulder to Yami. "You Nephilim all think you're better than the rest of us."

"I could skin you alive," Yami retorted.

The vampire boy narrowed his eyes, trying to step around Yugi once more. "Want to try?"

"Back off," Yugi hissed, pressing the tip of his blade against the vampire's throat. The boy raised his hands just like an egotistical mundane would.

Behind Yugi and Yami, the rest of the group had noticed the exchange of harsh words, and had stopped to watch the scene unfold. The blond teen had then walked up behind Yami during the exchange, and then was giving the vampire boy a smug smirk. "Keep in mind that we're part angel, and you're part demon," he noted.

"Be quiet, Joey," Yugi warned, keeping his stare on the vampire as the other night children walked over, glaring at the Nephilim. Yugi lowered the seraph blade so that it hovered over the vampire boy's heart. "Now you can either go back over to your bikes and continue to mope, or you can find out what it feels like to have an angel blade shoved through your ribcage. Your choice."

The next few moments became a glaring contest between the Nephilim and the night children, until finally the boy cracked. With a grumble of frustration, he turned and stalked back over to his bike, the rest of the vampire teens following. Yugi lowered the blade down to his side and watched them for a few moments, until he was satisfied that they weren't intending to do them any harm. He turned as he placed the blade back in his belt, "Come on guys."

As the group of Shadowhunters moved to walk back down the street, Yugi let the slightest of smirks creep onto his face. _That was fun. _He then noticed that Duke had turned to him.

"That was, kind of, really awesome," he commented with a grin.

Yugi shrugged, "I don't take shit from Downworlders."


End file.
